Charlies comments on Crennel & BY are pretty interesting
by Jay 
, San Diego, Friday, February 13, 2009, 12:28 (6087 days ago)
Seems to confirm that BY is being groomed to take over.
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Now, the next subject. Let's talk about the defensive line coach. There's been a lot of speculation out there. Most of it's been right on your guy's part, which is normally the case when you do your due diligence.
I've been, for over a month, going back and forth with Romeo. Most of you guys know that Romeo and I are close friends. When he got let go from the Browns, we started talking about the possibility of coming over here and working with me.
Well, at first it was just, What are we going to do? We'll talk about it. Then when Bryant Young decided to come here as a graduate assistant, this really turned up a couple of notches, because with Romeo still having a couple years left on his contract, it was a very favorable situation for me that he could come.
Now, instead of me hiring -- I had interviewed a couple guys at the defensive line coach already. When Bryant came in, I thought I'd like to bring him in here to eventually be a defensive line coach. I didn't want to bring him in here to be a career graduate assistant after 14 years in the NFL.
At the same time, I don't know whether or not he's going to enjoy coaching. He's never done it before. I know he can coach fundamentals and techniques and work with the players, but I had to see how this was going to work.
Romeo and I set a timetable for this week, because next week he's going to have his hip replaced. We set a timetable for this week to kind of come to a conclusion on this one.
Before he went on a little vacation this week, we talked earlier this week, we decided that he wasn't in a position at this time to make a commitment to do this, so we're going to move in another direction.
My other direction will be resolved here within days. As most of you know me well enough by now, it isn't like there isn't, What are we going to do if the answer is no? So we'll have the defensive line situation resolved very quickly. But I was not going to go with any other defensive line coach until after Romeo made the decision whether he was going to do it or not do it.
Now, obviously we brought in Bryant. He's going to be available to you today. With both Bryant and Ken, you know, we have two ex-Notre Dame football players who we would like to groom as potential members on our staff.
Wow.
by ReginaldVelJohnson , Friday, February 13, 2009, 12:45 (6087 days ago) @ Jay
Sounds like it was a done deal, if it weren't for Crennel's health issues. It seemed like a good plan, too: It let Crennel take a year off to regroup while still collecting paycheck, letting Bryant figure out it he liked everything required of a coach, and most importantly, would dramatically improve our staff.
Now, as a Browns fan, I have no love lost for Crennel as a HC (and even DC to some degree). Of course, I recognize that he would still be an outstanding DL coach, if for nothing else than he would have given the staff even more street cred.
I'll give Charlie this, he's trying as hard as he can. I hope for the sake of ND football (and for him) it's going to work out.
some more on BY from later in the presser
by Jay , San Diego, Friday, February 13, 2009, 12:47 (6087 days ago) @ ReginaldVelJohnson
Q. Is there any situation that could arise where Bryant Young would be the defensive line coach?
COACH WEIS: I don't think that that would happen this year. That situation is hopefully one that's going to end up matriculating, but just not at this time.
There's two things. Not that he's not capable of doing it. I want to make sure this is something he wants to do. You know, football players that transition to be coaches, some of 'em it really works and some of it doesn't work.
Because when you realize the coach's hours versus the player's hours, there's two different set of circumstances. He has a wife, bunch of kids. You know, there's other factors here.
But ultimately my game plan of hire changed when he came in as a GA, because it changed from hiring a guy that will be here forever to hiring a guy that you can bring in here that is an experienced guy, that you can groom him to potentially being our defensive line coach.
Q. How did the relationship come about? You knew him from the NFL?
COACH WEIS: I knew him from the NFL. To be honest with you, we started -- we really started talking right after he retired. That's when we really started talking. I invited him out here. I gave him an open-door policy. He could come any time he wanted. He said he was going to do a lot of travel.
Both he and his wife love this place. They just love the place. It's something he wanted to do. He had other options now. He could have gone to work with the 49ers. The Carolina Panthers offered him a job. But he wanted to come here.
That's great stuff, except for his questionable use
of the word "matriculating."
I'm glad you pointed that out
by Jay , San Diego, Friday, February 13, 2009, 12:59 (6087 days ago) @ Sherman Oaks
That's a CW favorite. He uses that almost as much as "pick your poison."
Weis knows his football...
but I cringe at how often he bungles the language in press conferences.
He crafts sentences
the way he builds offensive lines.
He's just mixing it up to keep you guessing.
by Joe 
, Friday, February 13, 2009, 13:32 (6087 days ago) @ Dylan
"What's he going to say next?"
Next thing you know, you're expecting a "pick your poison" and he gives you "matriculating". Touchdown.